Chapter 221 - Increa'ble

wah, lama sungguh x update blog. sebokkah aku? lebih kurang la... lot of hiccups in work, but i'm doing my best seeing it through to its end. whose fault to begin with? when a Project Manager is sacked, then, there must be something wrong. Last word from the man, "Jaga leher sendiri". Definitely something wrong. No further comment here.

Malaysia has registered 2nd case of H1N1 Influenza. I believe that before, the commoners doesn't give a shit because we are unlikely to get it. while other countries are hit by death toll and suspected case, we managed to keep a clean sheet. maybe due to great prevention approach or it's just people around the globe feared to travel in midst of this global terror. in spite of that, this 1 student whom studied in US decided to come home and bring a souvenir along with him. Thanks. the worst part is, it starts off like any other flu and it get worse and worse. runny nose, fatigue, headache, body-ache, etc.. just when you thought that you are having regular flu, you might think, "I'll be fine in couple of days", then BAM! you're dead. Yeah, it's that serious.

Is it incurable? i don't think so. it going to be a matter of time until the socio-bio-whatever improves our immune system. it's true that bird flu or any other deadly flu are still around, but living in a society, the transcultural health helps each of the society member to improve their immunation system without realizing. sounds like BS, but i swear i heard it somewhere.

Bird and pig discussing on how to terrorize the world with each flu

Chapter 220 - Bittersweet

Some trouble appeared in my work, so now I need to work hard to fix it, not to mention that i need to suck-up hard. what can i expect from a complicated, non-user-friendly system? the best part during this chaos is to read the bash mails from my bosses to our vendor (yea.. i've got a lot of boss). I like to quote, "if you need to fly someone in from India, make the arrangement now. The point is we do not want to know and do not care" and this one, "perhaps their team is not competent to handle such problem". wow.. cool stuff.

I really wanna get out from this stressful cycle. but the perks offered by my current company is next to the best. But, if there's no increment next year, then it's a goodbye. i hate that after i paid my car loan, house loan, study loan and mom's allowance, i only manage to buy a Mamee Party Pack for my breakfast, lunch and dinner... and that's for the whole month. Poor.

Just kidding, it's always a nando's every week. Hohoho.. but the point is, i don't have any left for my savings.

I just got back from white-water-rafting in Kuala Kubu Bharu. i hate to admit this, but in contrary with my friends, i thought that today's activity was less challenging. it's just OK. not that Woohooo OK.. it was less fortunate for us that the water level was a bit low today, so the current is not that ganas. there are also countable streams or channels or whatever they call it. there is also no unfortunate event happening in my boat. nobody flew out. nobody drown. it's like a regular joe and jane taking a walk in a bumpy-road garden. it's a great thing actually, but water-rafting is not something that i can fabricate. i can't go and tell my friends that someone in my boat flew out, hit her head on the rock, then her leg got stuck in between small yet steady rocks, but since the current is so violent, she dislocated her knee and when we took her out from the water, her leg just hanging like nobody's business.... yea, unless it really happened...

I'm not psycho, just tired. anyway, it was fun and i was happy to see my friends again. we're currently planning for our next getaway.

I don't know exactly how... but i did get well acquainted with facebook after ignoring all the non-sense invitations. Pillow fight, virtual gifts, adopt a pet, races, cults, virtual prostitutions.. and the list goes on and on.. but recently, somebody (i think it was the jews) created the whole quiz phenomenon. the worst part is that you can publish your quiz result and your friends will automatically see it. now lots of my friends are taking it and it's like a mushroom after the rain. not the happy mushroom as far as i concern. it fills up my home page, and for the overkill, we can create our own quiz and share it with our friends. and so, the cycle of eye-sore continues. thanks friends!

i won't lie, i did partake in some of the quizzes, but i can guarantee you that it is countable, and at least, i repeat, AT LEAST not at every 5 minutes. OH, P-L-Z PLEASE!!!

Chapter 219 - Peking Duck and Nasi Lemak

nice.. no need SLR. pakai phone camera 5MP. OMNIA rocks!

Peking duck is a trademark dish in China and adopted as the national food for China. it is fair to said that this cuisine is originally from Beijing due to its long history which involved imperial era and many dynasties; and we all know that Beijing is the capital of China. Long2 time ago, during the age of emperors and an empress (China onced ruled by an Empress), this cuisine was especially made for the emperor.. no citizen would even have the lavishness to enjoy such great cuisine. it was truly the emperor's food and the emperor loves Peking duck. now, hundred years past imperial era, the cuisine still holds special value to the Chinese. when having it for lunch or dinner, it is the only time the Chinese can feel like an emperor. truly a tasteful cuisine if it is correctly cooked.

i went to beijing last weekend. the tour guide told that Peking duck is similar to Nasi lemak in Malaysia. he's originally from China but can speak Malay well; Indon to be exact. but i can't agree more with his remark. Nasi lemak in Malaysia is like a peasant food. hahaha.. no la.. even so, i'm positive that nasi lemak is not a royalty cuisine, compared to Peking duck.

the weather in Beijing this time around is nice. Past winter and slowly creeping into spring. flowers starts to bloom; yet dry and chilly. this visit was first for the tour company to conduct in only 4 days. usually they do the 7 days tour. so, we skip the museums, art gallery, etc.. and only focused on important landmarks in Beijing such as Great wall, forbidden city, summer palace and shopping malls!

i was glad to be able to return to China. my homeland. my motherland. ahaha.. well it is partly true. my grandma was chinese. but for the whole me to come back to China... it's a touching scenery to see my shirt, pant, boxer, shoe, watch and most items in my wardrobe i brought, to come back to where they were made... CHINA.

Great wall is great as ever. total length over 6000km, we only climbed just a tip of the lot. there are numbers of entrance, but the entrance we went had been commercialized for tourist. the steps are steep, uneven and slippery. i almost give up halfway because of height-fright, but i felt like i'll regret if i stop climbing. suddenly, Kinabalu seems so small from those steep steps.

forbidden city is located in the kota lama beijing, the heart of beijing where also resides the administration offices, parliament, high court and Chairman Mao's tomb, forbidden city was the emperor's office and castle. there are 9 gates in total which is in 5km length.

Summer palace is like Genting in Malaysia (another great remark by the tour guide). Emperor loves to go there during the summer because of the cold climate. nowadays, old folks loves to come during the day and play kite. the government gives privilege to the retiree to enter the tourist spots for free. nice huh.

China is a shopping heaven, apparently because things are made there. we were brought to 2 cheap shopping malls. the Lido market and Yaoshuan Market (Russian Market). u can get almost everything there... from clothes to a silly imitation of ipod. i was told to haggle the price down to 90%. don't be fooled by the almost-cry-face made by the salesperson when you bargaining your goods. it's their thing to lie and rip you off.

the tour also scheduled for us to go to places like tea house, jade factory, crystal factory, pearl factory, silk house and herbs house. i can see my colleagues shops like crazy. great.